Five Oyo town kingmakers and their preferred candidate for the Alaafin stool, Prince Lukman Gbadegesin, have issued Governor Seyi Makinde a 30-day ultimatum to reverse the appointment of Akeem Owoade as the Alaafin or face a fresh legal action.
The ultimatum was issued on Wednesday in a letter dated January 14, 2025, written to Makinde by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kunle Sobaloju, on behalf of Gbadegesin.
In a second letter, also dated January 14, 2025, written by Sobaloju on behalf of the five kingmakers, they warned Makinde to refrain from maligning them by alleging bribery in the selection process for the Alaafin of Oyo.
They described Makinde’s resort to media attack on them as “unwarranted and unbecoming of the high standards expected of Your Excellency’s office.”
They warned the governor against crossing the line of defamation, stating: “Please recognise that you remain liable to prosecution for the defamatory acts committed by you in office, for which you may be held accountable after your period of immunity is over.”
The aggrieved kingmakers are the Basorun of Oyo, High Chief Yusuf Ayoola; Laguna of Oyo, High Chief Wakeel Akindele; Akinniku of Oyo, High Chief Hamzat Yusuf; warrant chief standing in for Asipa of Oyo, Chief Wahab Oyetunjii; warrant chief standing in for Alapinni of Oyo, Chief Gbadebo Mufutau.
Makinde had last Friday named Canada-based Owoade as the new Alaafin and on Monday presented him with a staff of office and letter of appointment.
Owoade’s announcement as the new Alaafin came a day after Sobaloju, in a statement last Thursday, warned Makinde to respect a pending lawsuit on the stool by not naming anyone Alaafin other than Gbadegesin, whom the five kingmakers had earlier selected.
During a brief ceremony on Monday to present Owoade with the instruments of office, Makinde alleged that the previous selection process that produced Gbadegesin was rejected because it was fraught with corruption and bribery.
The governor vowed that he would revisit the case by prosecuting anyone who had taken a bribe.
But in their strong-worded letter to the governor on Thursday, the kingmakers took exception to Makinde’s allegation, challenging him to go to court if he had his facts rather than resorting to a media attack on them.
“Publicly maligning the Oyomesi, who are custodians of tradition and highly respected in the Oyo kingdom, undermines not only their reputation but also the sanctity of the ongoing judicial process and defamatory of our clients.
“We urge Your Excellency to refrain from resorting to a trial by media or the court of public opinion in a bid to confer legitimacy on recent unlawful acts of the state, under your command.
“If there is any evidence to support these allegations, we respectfully advise that it should be brought before the court, where it can be properly examined and addressed,” Sobaloju said in the letter on behalf of the kingmakers.
